Shortly after the large ice storm that went through in January I received another morning deer message. It was on M-129 so Steph and I headed out to pick it up. I Figured we could handle it since most had been does. But this time got our first spike horn!
The roads were super icy so we were driving slow and I had my hazards on. Suddenly there were flashing lights behind us. I pulled over and and saw it was the Tribal Department of Natural resources. The officer walked up and said “you have a deer on your trailer”. My first inclination was to say “no way! How did it get there?” but I thought better of it. He asked where I got it and I told him it was road kill. He looked at me and my 8 year old granddaughter sitting in the back seat. “You picked up road kill?” He didn’t seem to believe me. He then asked for my permit. I told him I didn’t need one. He then asked what idiot told me that. I said Greg Postma, the Chippewa County Undersheriff. He took my license and went and made a few phone calls. Meanwhile the other officer that was with him began looking the deer over to see if there were any signs of it having been shot.
Finally he came back and said he had verified that there had been an accident but he didn’t know about the permit; but he was going to let me take the deer. I think I would have been a tad irritated if he hadn’t since it wasn’t the little doe I had expected and it took 6 tries to get it on the trailer. Then he asked why I picked it up. So then I had to explain about Sadie, no
she’s not a wolf, etc. He said he hoped I understood why he pulled me over, and of course I said I did since I don’t like poaching and that my cousin is a DNR officer. He asked who and I told him Kevin Postma, and he said that’s who he had just tried to call! After that he was all good and told me to just slow down (I was only going 30 so I wasn’t sure just how slow I was supposed to go!) but a couple hours later, 44 pounds of hamburger were in the freezer, though I’m afraid our new neighbor that walked by probably thinks I’m nuts since she didn’t reply to my happy “good morning” when she walked by while I was cutting it up on the trailer in the driveway….
Since that time people have asked me if I think Steph actually enjoys going with me, or if she feels obligated because I’m her NaNa. Our trips are always about more than just getting a deer, we have had many wonderful conversations and its always a learning experience for us both. But I think her Mothers Day card she gave me says more than I ever could. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who had a card that had this written on it!!
By Misty Murdock
EUP Staff Contributor
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